Tag: Adil Shahzeb

  • ‘Can we talk my Lord?’; Saqib Nisar denies, then confirms Khan contacted him

    ‘Can we talk my Lord?’; Saqib Nisar denies, then confirms Khan contacted him

    Former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar has given contradictory statements about communicating with former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    Nisar told journalist and anchorperson Adil Shahzeb of Dawn News that he had had no contact with Khan. However, he agreed that he had been in touch with former spymaster General (retd) Faiz Hameed.

    Adil Shahzeb, while speaking on Geo News program ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, said that he talked to Nisar at 10AM on March 6 and the ex-CJP asked if he would lobby for Imran Khan as if his character was any less than the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief. “Are my capabilities and intelligence levels any less than Imran Khan’s that I would lobby for him?” Saqib Nisar was quoted as saying by the journalist.

    It was shocking for me, Adil said on the show.

    However, while talking to journalist Zahid Gishkori of Samma News, the former CJP confirmed that he had, in fact, spoken to Imran Khan.

    Gishkori tweeted the supposed conversation between Nisar and Khan.

    “Can we talk my Lord? Which time is convenient to talk?” read Khan’s text sent to Nisar some two weeks ago, as per Gishkori. It was 8PM when Justice Saqib Nisar responded, “You’re welcome.” 

    Gishkori while speaking on Shahzeb Khanzada’s show, said that Khan asked for Nisar’s help in the court cases filed against him, to which the former CJP responded: “I can’t help you”.

    “It is a difficult time for me,” Khan reportedly said, at which the ex-CJP reiterated that he wouldn’t be able to help the PTI chief out. 

    “I advised him that you are a former Premier and are targeting institutions and that he shouldn’t weaken institutions with unnecessary criticism,” the former CJP was quoted as saying by Gishkori.  

    The CJP also reportedly warned Khan about trouble if he continued with his ways.

  • Twitter reacts to PTI’s Hammad Azhar’s challenge to journalist Shahzeb Khanzada

    Twitter reacts to PTI’s Hammad Azhar’s challenge to journalist Shahzeb Khanzada

    Energy Minister of Pakistan, Hammad Azhar took to Twitter to challenge journalist Shahzeb Khanzada to a debate on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and gas.

    Pakistan at present is facing a gas crisis throughout the country. Journalist Shahzab Khanzada, a year ago, had warned that the gas crisis was impending, kept reiterating that the crisis needs immense attention, otherwise the consequences shall be huge.

    Khanzada called the minister on his political news programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ five times but each time the minister declined despite promising to appear on the show.

    On Friday, Azhar took to Twitter and proposed a challenge.

    “I would like to challenge Shahzeb Khanzada to debate LNG and Gas issues with me moderated by a neutral anchor and with Independent experts. Let the ppl [people] see the facts without persistent interrupting, volume controls, teleprompters etc,” tweeted Azhar.

    His words, “a neutral anchor” and “let the ppl see the facts without persistent interrupting, volume controls, teleprompters” caught a lot of criticism and sparked reactions from the Twitterati.

    Senior Journalist Abbas Nasir wrote, “People are suffering acute gas shortages and this man wants to debate and not accept his abject failures.”

    Adil Shahzeb wrote, “Use of [a] teleprompter is a common practice globally for news shows (for OCs/monologues) to ensure accuracy and manage time (read rate).”

    Anchorperson Muhammad Junaid wrote, “Like PTI’s Favourite Stephen Sackur of BBC was made to sit in a debate moderated by a Neutral Anchor? There is no gas in thousands and thousands of households FIX THAT FIRST MR MINISTER!”

    Journalist Khurram Husain tweeted, “And how will this help plug our winter gas deficit?”

    Aimun, a Twitter user wrote, “Why? Are facts displayed on teleprompters not facts?”

    A Twitter user wrote, “Rather than apologising for causing huge loss to the exchequer n discomfort to the public, this man wants a debate to address the issue.”

    Another Twitter user wrote, “My man’s out here trying to get air time rather than fixing the crisis.”

    Another person tweeted, “The big ‘tu mujhe bahar mil [meet me outside]’ energy.”

    https://twitter.com/chasinggcars/status/1461671639230423045?s=21

    Last week, the government decided to provide gas to the residential sector only three times a day for cooking purposes throughout December to March to minimise gas shortages in Pakistan.

  • ‘Stop making trends on Twitter, focus on your studies’: Shafqat Mahmood advises students

    Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has advised Pakistani students to stop making trends on Twitter against exams and focus on the preparation for the upcoming exams.

    Speaking on Dawn News programme ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’ Mahmood said that exams have already started in Sindh and will also commence in Punjab from Friday so there is no possibility of papers being postponed or cancelled.

    “I would advise the students to stop spending time on Twitter to make trends and that it is better to focus on their education. There is still time left for exam preparation,” says Mahmood.

    When asked about Pakistani students waiting to return to China, Mahmood said he has discussed the issue with the Chinese envoy and hoped that it will be solved soon.

    “Every country is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in its own way. We all know that China is a big country and there is a risk of the virus spreading there, so the Chinese government enforced the strictest restrictions and imposed a lockdown.”

    Earlier Mahmood had said that board exams for students of classes nine and 10 would be held only for elective subjects and mathematics while exams for students of classes 11 and 12 would be held for elective subjects only.

  • Not concerned by the contacts between India and Afghan Taliban, says Moeed Yusuf

    Not concerned by the contacts between India and Afghan Taliban, says Moeed Yusuf

    National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf while speaking on Dawn News programme ‘Live with Adil Shahzeb’ said that India should be ashamed of meeting the Afghan Taliban  after having supported operations against the insurgent group for a long time.

    Yusuf was responding to the Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s recent stopovers in Doha to meet with the Taliban leadership twice in the last three weeks.

    “I want to ask this: with what [moral] standing did this Indian high-level official meet [the Taliban] there? Did they not feel ashamed?” Yusuf said when asked how Pakistan viewed the India-Taliban meetings.

    “[The Indians] kept having the Taliban killed daily and kept giving funds for operations against them and today they have reached there to have talks,” he added.

    Yusuf said the meetings were “a matter of shame” and not a strategic move.

    He emphasised that the Taliban, whom the Indians had met, were also “not stupid”, saying he was not concerned by the contacts between India and the insurgent group amid the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.

    “You should also ask what response the [Indians] got from the [Taliban],” he added.

    Speaking about Pakistan-India relations, the NSA said there were no backdoor talks or dialogue between the two countries for now.

    ‘’India contacted us [and said] that they wanted to fix [relations] and we told them we desired the restoration of pre-August 2019 status of Indian-occupied Kashmir; besides, our policy is based on the ease of life for Kashmiris,’’ he stated.